Cherry Kolaches Recipe

I AM of Czechoslovakian descent, and baking kolaches is my specialty. These sweet yeast buns with fruit or poppy seed filling are a true Czech tradition. They are also popular in other Slavic nations, which sometimes use the spellings kolacky or kolachke. From a young age, I’ve enjoyed baking. But it wasn’t until we retired from farming and moved to town that I started making large quantities of kolaches. The Cherry Kolaches recipe I’m sharing reflects my filling preference. But I also make apricot, apple, pineapple, prune and poppy seed kolaches. I make my fillings from scratch, but you can easily use canned filling instead.

Directions

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, sugar, butter, salt, eggs and 5 cups flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a very soft dough. Do not knead. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 75 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine pie filling and sugar. Combine cornstarch and cold water until smooth; gradually stir into filling. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir for 1 minute or until thickened; set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and egg yolk until smooth. Using the end of a wooden spoon handle, make an indentation in the center of each dough ball; fill with 2 rounded teaspoons of filling. Make a small indentation in center of filling; add 1 teaspoon topping.

Bake at 400° for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Brush melted butter over rolls. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. Refrigerate leftovers.Yield: about 6 dozen.

Originally published as Cherry Kolaches in Taste of Home
April/May 2004, p51